Cosmic Dominion , the fan-designed expansion for Cosmic Encounter , is now available at your local retailer and in the Fantasy Flight Games online store .

Cosmic Dominion introduces thirty new alien races and accompanying flares, a reward deck for allies filled with game-changing cards, and ship markers that allow players to create their own ship variants. Designed for the fans and by the fans, along with of one of the game’s original designers, Peter Olotka, Cosmic Dominion blasts open the possibilities of Cosmic Encounter  game play.

In the announcement for Cosmic Dominion , Peter Olotka and some of the expansion's fan designers – Jefferson Krogh, Bill Martinson, and Jack Reda – shared their insights into the expansion’s unique and collaborative design process. A preview of the expansion’s alien races featured these designers’ comments on their favorite fan-designed aliens and some classic aliens newly revised for Cosmic Dominion . We also announced CosmicCon : an upcoming celebration of  Cosmic Encounter to be held in Roseville, MN at the Fantasy Flight Games Center on the weekend of September 19-21.

As you prepare for interplanetary adventure, take a peek at the expansion’s reward deck, special ship variants, and two of its many alien races.

Interstellar Rewards

Cosmic Dominion allows defensive allies to draw rewards from a separate rewards deck containing a variety of enticing cards. From encouraging alliances and multiplying your attack points, to transforming negotiation or allowing a safe retreat from an attack, the cards of the reward deck can wreak havoc with any encounter.

Intimidate cards can draw allies towards you or make yourself a more desirable ally. Played facedown before planning, intimidate cards serve main players as an attack card. If you are not a main player, the intimidate card signals that you would like to be an ally in that encounter. A main player allied to you can then use the intimidate card you played instead of his own encounter card. Main players cannot, however, look at their allies’ facedown intimidate cards before making a choice.

Kicker cards, introduced originally in the Cosmic Incursion expansion, multiply your attack points or the amount of compensation you receive in a negotiation. Unique Negotiate Cards have a variety of effects. If you play Faulty Translator opposite an attack card, you lose the encounter and collect compensation from an opposing ally. Played opposite another negotiate card, it forces you to reach a deal using gestures instead of words, since two aliens seldom speak the same language.

Customized Ships

Colored ship markers included in Cosmic Dominion allow players to create a single special ship in their fleet. Some ship variants are suggested in Cosmic Dominion , but the possibilities for special ships are as vast as the cosmos itself.

You could use the ship marker to create a flagship with three extra attack points in every encounter. Flagships also have a hyperspace drive action, which allows them to speed between colonies, or in and out of encounters, ignoring regular limits on ship movement. Or, you could create a salvage vessel, which allows you to retrieve a card from the discard pile using the salvage vessel’s tractor beam action whenever you like. If you win an encounter with the salvage vessel involved, you can receive two rewards or draw two tech cards, increasing your ability to win future encounters and colonize other planets.

Alien Invasion

Cosmic Dominion brings you face to face with a multitude of aliens, some mischievous, others belligerent, some chaotic, others sly, manipulative, and surprisingly powerful – like the Quartermaster. As the Quartermaster, you regularly supply the rewards to the other players. They may choose which type of reward they want – a ship back from the warp or a card from the reward deck – but the Quartermaster selects which colonies ships return to, or what card a player is dealt. Quartermasters also receive a reward for their hard work whenever their power is used.

The Yin-Yang alien race seeks to establish cosmic balance. Therefore, as the Yin-Yang you can ally with both sides in an encounter, allowing the defense to prevent a ship from falling into the warp or enabling the offense to receive a reward. If a player does not invite you as an ally, you can give them a Yin-Yang token, causing them to lose ships if they defeat an opponent. By creating equality among the other players, the Yin-Yang can protect their own interests and safely expand the boundaries of their empire.

Conquer the Cosmos

From new alien races to the tantalizing reward deck, this fan-designed expansion fuels planet-shaking encounters and player innovations. Whether you prefer to intimidate or retreat, take on a whimsical alien personality or invent a new kind of ship, Cosmic Dominion opens up a universe of possibilities for Cosmic Encounter .

Download the rules from the Cosmic Encounter support page , make your plans for September’s CosmicCon , and pick up your copy of Cosmic Dominion from a local retailer today!

Cosmic Encounter is a classic board game that puts players in charge of the fate of an alien race. Three to five players each strive to be the first to conquer five enemy colonies and establish themselves as the dominant life form in the galaxy. With over 50 alien characters to choose from, no two games are ever the same.